When people are highly confident in a decision or a belief, they only take in information that confirms their decision, failing to process information that contradicts it, according to a new brain imaging study.
The study helps explain the neural processes that contribute to the confirmation bias entrenched in most people’s thought processes, according to researchers at University College London in England. “We were interested in the cognitive and neural mechanisms causing people to ignore information that contradicts their beliefs, a phenomenon known as confirmation bias.
For example, climate change skeptics might ignore scientific evidence that indicates the existence of global warming,” said Max Rollwage, lead author and a Ph.D.
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